


Come Back Stronger

by southernbellesoccer



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-30
Updated: 2015-07-27
Packaged: 2018-01-21 10:17:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1547123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/southernbellesoccer/pseuds/southernbellesoccer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One accident has the potential to turn this couple's whole world upside down, but only if they give it the power.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly don't even know where the idea for this came from, but here it is. Also, I don't claim to have any real medical knowledge so just go with it.  
> P.S. this is also my first post on Archive. You should check out my tumblr page for more :)

Ali slyly looked down at the phone vibrating in her lap. She knew it could come across as rude to be checking her phone in the middle of a meeting, but she couldn’t help it when her phone started ringing for the second time. She looked down and saw that Chris Harris was calling her. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. She knew that her fiancé was staying with Chris and his family this week in Florida. Ali was actually supposed to be with her, but she got called in for this meeting with the USSF at the last minute. This didn’t explain why he would be calling her when she knew that Ashlyn would have told him that she was busy. 

She ignored the call to stop the vibrating and let out a frustrated sigh when it started ringing again a few seconds later. She looked up at the table filled with some of her other teammates, Alex, Christie, and Abby, past players, and soccer administrators. They were called in to discuss the future of the program and the pending hiring of a new coach. She knew that this was a group of people that would understand that she needed to take a call if she said it was family. She cleared her throat to get their attention before speaking. “Excuse me, but for some reason a family member of mine is trying, very persistently, to get in touch with me. I should answer this phone call.” She said excusing herself from the table when everyone nodded in understanding.

She walked out of the meeting room and into the hallway before answering her phone. “Hello?”

“Finally!” Chris practically yelled on the other side of the phone.

“What’s going on, Chris?” Ali asked, a little exasperated. 

“Listen, Ali, I’m going to get straight to the point. Ashlyn had a surfing accident this morning. She’s in the hospital.” Chris said in the calmest way that he could.

“Accident? How bad?” Ali asked with worry laced in her voice.

Chris took a deep breath. “It’s pretty bad, Alex. She was out with Liz and she got taken up by a wave that led her straight into the reef. The reef banged her up pretty bad, but the worst of it came from the fin of her board.”

“What’s the worst of it?” Ali asked as her heart almost beat out of her chest, unsure that she wanted to know the answer.

“A deep cut on the back of her thigh. I mean, it tore through her muscles, tendons, nerves and broke the bone. She lost a lot of blood.”

Ali gasped as she covered her mouth in an attempt to not start sobbing in the hallway. “What…What does that mean, Chris?” 

“Ali, I don’t think we should talk about this over the phone. She needs--”

“I’ll be there by tonight.” Ali said cutting him off. Chris noticed that Ali was going into her defensive mode. He had only seen it one other time and that was when Ashlyn had to have an emergency appendectomy the summer before. “Let me inform the people in my meeting that I’m leaving and I’ll catch the first flight out of here. It’s about a three and a half hour flight from Chicago. But I’ll be there as soon as I can. Keep me updated.”

“Ok.” Chris agreed. “And, Ali?”

“Yeah?”

“She’ll be ok. She’s strong.”

Ali took a deep breath to compose herself. “I know.” She said before hanging up and going back into the conference room. Ali quickly explained what was going on and how she needed to get to Florida to check on her fiancé. Everyone in the room completely understood and handed out their prayers and well wishes. Abby, Alex, and Christie were all a little more upset by the news. They wanted more details that Ali just didn’t have right now. “I’ll call as soon as I know anything.” Ali promised as Christie walked her outside to hail a cab. 

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

Ali swore that the one hour drive from Orlando to Satellite Beach was the longest hour of her life. She disregarded the speed limit in her attempt to get to Ashlyn as fast as she could. She called her parents to explain to them what was going on, and then called Chris to say that she was almost there.

Seven hours after getting the phone call from Chris, she finally got to the hospital and quickly called Sarah, Chris’ wife, to find out where to go. She gave Ali clear instructions and Ali came jogging up to the waiting room a few minutes later.

“Aunt Ali!” Sam, Chris and Sarah’s eight year old son, yelled as he came running towards Ali. Ali wrapped him in a big hug.

“Hey, handsome. Where’s your dad?” Ali asked, getting straight to the point. She needed to see Ashlyn.

“He’s with Aunt Ashlyn, but my mama is over here.” He said grabbing Ali’s hand and leading her over to the other side of the waiting room.

As soon as Sarah saw Ali approaching she got up to hug her. “Oh, Ali. I’m so sorry.” Sarah tried to soothe. “I’m glad you were able to get here so quickly. She was asking for you when I went in to see her earlier.”

Ali held on to Sarah a few seconds longer, needing the comfort that the embrace brought. “Can I go see her now?” Ali whispered as she wiped away a few fallen tears.

“Of course.” Sarah said as she led Ali down the hall towards Ashlyn’s room. “Chris and their Grandma are in there with her now.”  
Ali nodded and turned the door handle to enter the room. She stepped in slowly, not knowing exactly what condition she might find Ashlyn in. She sighed when she noticed she was asleep. She looked pretty rough but Ali could still see all her beauty. She turned to Chris and Ashlyn’s grandma and gave a small smile. “Hey. How is she?” 

Chris got up from his chair to greet her with a hug. “Stable for right now. She got out of surgery about three and a half hours ago. She woke up for a little bit and then fell back asleep.”

Ali nodded and moved over towards the bed and grabbed Ashlyn’s hand. “You said surgery. What did they have to do?”  
Chris looked over at his grandmother, willing her to tell Ali the news so it might come out better, she gave him a gentle smile and went over to Ali and wrapped an arm around her. “The surgery was on her leg, lower, back, thigh area. Did Chris explain earlier about it?”

“Yeah. He did.” Ali whispered out, her eyes not leaving Ashlyn.

“Well, it was pretty extensive surgery, lasted a couple of hours. They won’t know much until she can start moving it again, but...” the older woman trailed off.

“But what?” Ali asked.

“But they can’t guarantee that she’ll ever be able to walk with that leg again, much less play soccer.” She finished softly.

Ali didn’t respond. She didn’t cry. She didn’t fall to floor in hysteria. She just stood there. 

“Ali, she’s going to need you.” Grandma whispered softly into her ear as she placed a soft kiss to the brunet’s temple.

“I know….and I’ll be here.” She whispered, still staring at Ashlyn’s sleeping form.

Chris brought a chair beside the bed for Ali to sit in. “Grandma, why don’t you let me take you, Sarah, and Sam home? Give Ali a little bit of alone time to process everything.” 

His grandmother agreed, and before leaving, Chris quickly filled Ali in on who Ashlyn’s doctors were and when the doctor was supposed to come by and check on Ashlyn again. 

Ali sat there for about an hour with only a nurse coming by to check if things were ok. She was fiddling with her engagement ring and thinking about how different their lives might be if Ashlyn can’t play soccer anymore. Ali swore to herself in that moment that she would stick with her keeper through anything, that’s why she wore that ring on her finger. She doesn’t plan on leaving Ashlyn’s side, she just hopes that Ashlyn won’t give up, that she will realize that soccer isn’t everything. 

The defender was about to fall asleep in her chair when she heard a low, raspy, voice whisper out, “Hey, princess.” Ali quickly looked up to find a very dazed Ashlyn smiling at her.

Ali smiled back and reached up to take Ashlyn’s hand. “Hey, stud. How are you feeling?”

“Like I hit a reef.”

Ali giggled, that’s the Ashlyn she knows, always making jokes. “Yeah, I bet you do.”

“And I think they cut apart my favorite wetsuit trying to get it off me. I’ll have to ask for a new one for Christmas.” She mumbled out.

“Mmmm, well maybe if you’re good Santa will bring you one.” Ali said as she stood up and then sat on the edge of the bed.

“Do you know if they were able to save my board?”

Ali laughed, “You know, I don’t think that was on my priority list of things to ask about. I was more worried about you than that damn board you treat like your baby.”

Ashlyn smiled sheepishly up at Ali. “Sorry, that was a stupid question.” She tried to shift on the bed so that Ali could sit next to her. She clenched her teeth at the pain and Ali quickly pushed her down. 

“Don’t try to move, stupid. You need to be still.” 

“But I want to have you close.” Ashlyn pouted.

Ali shook her head, “Don’t worry about it... You scared the shit out of me by the way.”

“Yeah, sorry about that.” Ashlyn said and things went into a comfortable silence between them for a moment. “Hey, Al?”

“Yeah?” 

“Why can’t I move my left leg?” Ashlyn asked as she looked down at her hands and not up at Ali.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, that I just went through a mental check list to make sure everything was working, and all my fingers move. My arms work. I can wiggle my toes on my right foot and roll my ankle, but I can’t get anything to work in my left leg.”

“Oh, well you sliced open your leg really bad on the back of your thigh, which your precious surfboard did by the way. And they had to do surgery. Your leg is probably still numb from the surgery.” Ali explained, not wanting Ashlyn to worry about how severe her injury is until the doctors knew more.

“Oh, makes sense.” Ashlyn said in a calm tone, but when she looked up at Ali the brunet could see the fear in her eyes. “Mark’s going to be pissed.” She tried to joke, but Ali let it fall flat. If only Ashlyn knew how bad this could potentially be.

The doctor eventually came in to check on her for the night. He said her vitals were good and asked if she was in any pain.

“Just sore. I wouldn’t call it pain.” Ashlyn responded.

“Good. I’ll be by again in the morning to check the incision on your thigh, but everything looks good for right now.” the doctor informed them.

“Awesome, thanks.” Ashlyn responded with a week smile. The doctor got ready to leave the room and Ali jumped out of her chair to follow him without saying anything to Ashlyn.

“Hey, Dr. Johnson, could I talk to you for a moment?” Ali asked. 

“Of course.”

“So, Ashlyn’s brother explained a little bit about her leg, but I wanted to hear your thoughts on her recovery.”

“Recovery?” the doctor sighed. “I’m not sure if recovery is the best word to use, Ms. Krieger. I don’t mean to be negative, but I don’t think we are looking at Ashlyn ever being back to normal. I think a better way to ask it is, what progress will Ashlyn make from where she is now? I see her walking, possibly with a cane for assistance. Do I see her playing soccer or surfing again? To be honest, no. I think the muscle and nerve damage in her leg is too severe.”

Ali bit her lower lip in an attempt to keep her tears at bay. “Thank you for being honest.” Ali finally whispered out. “It’s refreshing for someone to finally say the truth instead of insisting that everything is going to be ok.”

The doctor sighed at the clear crushed tone of Ali’s voice. “But it will be ok. Ashlyn will live a long, happy, life with you. With the amount of blood she lost, that isn’t something I could have promised you this morning when she was first brought in. She still has a long life ahead of her, she’s just going to need some encouraging to get past the rough times to come.”

Ali nodded and wiped away a tear that started to fall. “Thank you.” She said sincerely as she stepped towards the door getting ready to go back into Ashlyn’s room.

“You’re welcome. Have a goodnight.” The doctor said before turning to go to the next patient’s room.

Ali walked back into the room to find Ashlyn asleep. She sat back down by the bed and Chris came in about an hour later. “Hey, Als. I brought you some dinner.” He said, holding up a McDonald’s bag. “I know this probably isn’t on your soccer star diet, but I did get you a wrap instead of a burger.”

Ali giggled and took the bag and drink from him. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

The two chatted quietly for a while. Chris was catching Ali up on everything that Sam had been busy doing at school, including the fact that he decided to play defense instead of being a forward on his soccer team. It got to be midnight and Chris noticed that Ali was starting to doze off to sleep. “Hey, why don’t you lean the chair back and get some sleep.” He suggested, as he motioned to the lever for the recliner Ali was sitting in. 

Ali nodded and leaned back, “Goodnight, Chris. It’s nice to have a brother around.”

“Anytime, baby girl.” 

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ 

Ali and Chris both bolted upright in their seats as they heard the thrashing coming from the single bed in the room. Chris ran to turn the lights on to find his sister shaking violently on the bed. “What’s going on?” Ali yelled as she went to Ashlyn’s side and tried to stop her from shaking. She could see beads of sweat rolling down Ashlyn’s face but her body felt cold to the touch. “Ashlyn, baby, come on. Wake up!” Ali pleaded. “Wake up, Ash. You’re scaring me. Please wake up!” 

Ali had prominent tears running down her face, and she didn’t even notice that Chris had ran out to get a nurse until he came back into the room followed by a doctor and two nurses. The medical professionals ran to Ashlyn’s side and Chris grabbed Ali by the arm and pulled her back.  
“What’s wrong with her?!” Ali yelled at the doctor as Chris continued to pull her across the room and out the door.

“Let go of me, Harris! That’s my fiancé in there! I need to see if she’s ok!” Ali screamed as she squirmed in the man’s arms. 

“And she’s my sister, but we have to let the doctor’s do their job, Alex.” Chris said sternly.

Ali gave up all her fight at once and collapsed in Chris’ arms and began to sob. “I—I just don’t un- understand what’s wrong. She--she seemed fine earlier.” Ali spoke between sobs. 

“I know.” Chris whispered in her ear as he held her close and kissed her hair. 

Ali and Chris watched on as several doctors and nurses came in and out of Ashlyn’s room, including Dr. Johnson. After what seemed like forever, Dr. Johnson came out of the room and straight to the two worried people sitting in the waiting room. “Is she ok?” Ali asked as she jumped from her chair.

“Ashlyn’s leg is severally infected. The episode you witnessed when you woke up was Ashlyn having a seizure.” Dr. Johnson explained calmly.

Ali’s eyes went wide, “Seizure?”

The doctor nodded. “Her temperature elevated causing the seizure.”

“But is she ok now?” Chris asked before Ali could.

“She’s stable for the time being but I would like to take her into immediate surgery.”

“Surgery for what?” Ali asked, taking control of the situation again.

The doctor sighed, he knew that he was about to drop something huge on them. “I believe amputating her leg will be the most advisable thing to do at this point. Keeping the origin of the infection is putting Ashlyn’s life at risk. If it continues to spread to her blood stream then we are looking at far more than the loss of a leg…Do you understand?”

Ali covered her mouth in an attempt to not vomit the contents of her stomach. Amputate? He wants to amputate her fiancé’s leg. 

“I know this is something that you would like to think about, but we really don’t have time. Ms. Krieger, you have power of attorney over Ashlyn. I advise that we amputate and amputate now. Will you allow this?”

Ali looked up at Chris for help. He excused them from the doctor for a second and took a few steps away, dragging a speechless Ali with him.

“Ali, I know that the last thing you want is to see Ashlyn lose her leg. Believe me, I know. I can’t imagine having to make a decision like this, but we are talking about my sister’s life, not just her leg.” Chris reasoned.

“But what if there is a chance for her to survive with her leg. What if the doctor is wrong?” Ali said, throwing her hands up in frustration.

Chris sighed and grabbed Ali by the shoulders to make sure that she was looking him in the eye. “Ali, be honest with me. Do you really think the doctor is wrong?”

Ali blinked back fresh tears and shook her head. “No. I know what I have to do, but I’m afraid that she’ll hate me when she wakes up and finds out that she doesn’t have a leg.”

“She could never hate you, Ali.” Chris assured her as he took her hand and led her back to the doctor.

“Have we come to a decision?” Dr. Johnson asked. 

Ali nodded her head. “I want to do whatever gives her the best chance of surviving.”

The doctor nodded and gave her a weak smile before handing her off to a nurse to sign the mandatory paper work while he headed to prep for surgery.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a link to a site to find out more about amputee soccer.   
> http://www.ampsoccer.org/index.htm

Several minutes later, after signing lots of medical release documents, Ali spots them rolling Ashlyn out of her room and towards surgery. She quickly ran over to the bed and took Ashlyn by the hand, noticing that she was unconscious. The nurses moving Ashlyn to surgery stopped for a second to let Ali have a chance to say what she needed. 

“Hey, baby, I know that you might not understand why we have to do this, but please understand that I can’t lose you. I can’t, Ashlyn. I love you, and everything will be fine.” Ali spoke to her even though Ashlyn can’t hear her. She kissed Ashlyn’s blonde hair gently before letting go of her hand and letting the nurses take her back to the operation room.

Ali slowly walked back over to Chris and collapsed in the chair beside him. “You made the right decision.” Chris insured her.

Ali scoffed, “And do you think that she’ll agree when she wakes up? I just gave up on any chance of her continuing her soccer career.”

“Yeah, to save her life! There really wasn’t any other choice, Ali. You can’t beat yourself up about this. I know my sister, and she will be happy to know that you made the choice that will keep her here with you. You made a choice so that she will be here when you walk down the aisle to marry her, so the two of you can have beautiful children, and so you two can grow old together. And I know that my sister will understand the decision, even if that means that she will never play soccer again.” 

“You can’t know that, Chris.” Ali said as she pulled her feet into the chair and buried her head between her knees and cried.

Chris rubbed her back gently for a few minutes until her crying slowly came to a stop. “I’m going to go call Sarah and Grandma to inform them on everything that’s happened. Do you need me to call anyone for you?” he asked quietly.

Ali nodded slightly, “Kyle. Can you call him?”

“Sure.” Chris said before placing a gentle kiss to the top of Ali’s head and walking off to make his three phone calls.

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

Three hours later, 7 a.m., Dr. Johnson reemerged from the operation room and came over to Ali and Chris, who were now accompanied by Ashlyn’s grandmother.

“How did it go?” Chris asked quickly.

“Everything went just fine. She’s in the recovery room now so we can continue to monitor her blood pressure, pulse, and breathing. She should wake up soon and you’ll be able to see her in about two hours.”

Ali let out a sigh of relief and reached her hand over to squeeze Ashlyn’s grandmother’s hand. “Thank God.” She whispered. 

The trio waited the agonizing two hours before nurse finally came to get them and said they could go to Ashlyn’s room. Ali sprinted ahead of Chris and grandma and reached the room first.

She walked in and Ashlyn looked up to catch her eye. They stared at each other for a moment, Ali not sure of how Ashlyn was feeling towards her. Ashlyn finally reached her hand out and Ali took that as a sign to come closer. She moved slowly towards the bed and grabbed Ashlyn’s extended hand. “I love you.” Ashlyn said as loud as her raspy voice would go.

“I love you too.” Ali said letting a single tear stream down her face. “Are you sure you’re not mad at me?”

Ashlyn laughed lightly. “Mad? How could I be mad at you? It’s my stupid self that got me into this situation. I knew the water was rough but I went out surfing anyway.”

“It’s not your fault, Ashlyn.”

“But it is. Don’t you see it, Ali? Because of my decision, I no longer have a career. And because of my decision, that ring that you have on your finger is binding you to someone who will be a cripple for the rest of their life.” Ashlyn said in bitter disgust towards herself.

“Don’t talk like that.” Ali snapped back at her right when Chris and Ashlyn’s grandma walked in.

“There’s my baby girl.” Grandma said as she walked towards the side of the bed Ali wasn’t on and gave Ashlyn a kiss to the forehead. 

“Hey, grandma.” Ashlyn said weakly. 

“Hey, sis.” Chris said, making his presence known.

“Sup, bro?...Is Sam here?” Ashlyn inquired about her nephew.

“Ashlyn, you just got out of surgery.” Ali warned.

Ashlyn gave Ali a sloppily smile that showed the drugs were still having a pretty big effect on her. “I don’t care. I want to see my nephew.” She looked back to Chris. “So is he here?”

“No, I ummm, I didn’t think it would be a good idea. I mean, he’s an 8 year old boy. He’ll be asking a lot of questions, and I didn’t want to put any more stress on you. Maybe I can bring him by later when you’re feeling better.”

“Oh.” Ashlyn said with a drop of her shoulders. “Guess he would think it’s pretty weird that I don’t have a leg now. I can’t expect people to treat it as normal, especially not little kids.”

Chris sighed, he didn’t mean to make her upset. “Look, I’m sure you’re tired. Why don’t you get some sleep?” he suggested.   
Ashlyn nodded, “Alright. Hey, Alibean?”

“Yeah?” 

“Could you go get me something to drink? Like apple juice or something.”

“Sure. I’ll ask a nurse what you’re allowed to have other than water.” Ali said before giving Ashlyn’s hand a tight squeeze and leaving the room.

Ashlyn let her gaze follow her fiancé out of the room before turning back to her grandmother and Chris. “I can’t do it.” She said.

“Can’t do what, sweetie?” Grandma asked.

“I can’t ask her to spend the rest of her life taking care of me. I’m supposed to take care of her. I’m supposed to be her rock, her supporter, her defender. She deserves to be treated like a princess, and I can’t do that anymore.”

“Yes, you can.” Chris said plainly. “You’re selling yourself short. You have a long road ahead of you and you’ll come back stronger than what you were before. And I don’t mean stronger as a player, but stronger as a person. You lost a leg, so what? The Ashlyn Harris that I know would take on the challenge and do something extraordinary with her life, all while holding Ali Krieger’s hand.” 

“That’s a deep pep talk to be giving to me with the amount of drugs I’m on.” Ashlyn joked as took in all that her brother had said.

Chris chuckled. “Well, yeah. But I don’t want to see you push Ali away.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t let her.” Ali said as entered the room holding a glass of water. She walked over to the bed and handed the glass to Ashlyn. “Sorry, baby, they said you can only have water right now. Apple juice can start tomorrow.”

Ashlyn nodded and took a sip of the water before handing it back to Ali to set on the bedside table. “Thank you, princess.”

“You’re welcome. Now, why don’t you get some sleep? I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

Ashlyn smiled at the truth of Ali’s statement. “You will won’t you? You’re always here when I need you.” Ashlyn whispered as she closed her eyes and allowed herself to fall asleep.

“You should get some sleep too.” Chris said to Ali. “I’ll take grandma home and come back a little later after I take a nap myself.”

“Ok. And maybe you could bring Sam by later anyway. I think Ashlyn would feel better if she got to see him and make him laugh.”

Chris smiled. “Alright, I’ll bring him and Sarah. See you later.” 

“Bye, sweetheart. Make sure you rest.” Grandma said as she gave Ali a hug and left with Chris.

Ali got comfortable in the recliner and decided to make a series of serious phone calls. She first called her parents, then the USSF and Mark. After Mark, she called Lori and asked her to help inform their Spirit teammates. She called Christie, Abby, and Alex because she knew they would all be worried. Then she paused before calling Whitney. She wasn’t sure that she had the energy to try to explain this to Ashlyn’s best friend. She debated a little longer before giving in and calling her. The conversation had gone a little better than Ali expected. Turns out that Chris had called Whitney when the accident initially occurred. It was only the amputation that surprised her. When Ali hung up with Whit she leaned back in the chair and quickly fell asleep.

~~ 7 days later ~~

“You ready to go?” Ali asked as she looked over at Ashlyn, who was letting Sam push her wheelchair down the hall of the hospital. 

“Sure, just don’t let little man crash me into anything.” Ashlyn said with a laugh.

Ali giggled. “Sure thing, but how about for safety measures we let me push Aunt Ashlyn to the car, ok?” Ali suggested to Sam.

“Ok!” the boy quickly agreed and Ashlyn reached over to grab him as he ran by the wheelchair. 

“Gotcha!” Ashlyn said as she pulled him into her lap and sat him on her right leg.

Ali laughed and pushed them both to the elevator and then towards the parking deck. Chris had pulled the car up for them, and they were going to stay at Chris and Sarah’s house until the doctor cleared Ashlyn to travel back to D.C. Sam hopped off of Ashlyn’s lap and Chris went to help her into the car. Ashlyn pushed his hand away quickly. “I got it.” She said sharply as she locked the wheels on the wheel chair and pushed herself up with the armrests. She then hopped over to the open door and practically threw herself into the back seat. She slammed the door behind her and left Chris staring at Ali in confusion.

“What did I do wrong?”

Ali shrugged. “You know your sister, she likes her independence.” Then Ali got into the passenger seat and Chris sighed before telling Sam to get in the back with Ashlyn while he jumped into the driver’s seat.

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

“Is Whit still coming by this afternoon?” Ashlyn asked as she laid on the bed in her brother’s guestroom.

“Yep.” Ali affirmed as she sorted through the numerous prescription bottles that Ashlyn had been given. The blonde had complained of some slight discomfort and Ali was trying to find the right pain meds before Ashlyn started to have real pain.

“I’m glad she’s coming. She won’t take pity on me. She never has.” Ashlyn said as she crossed her arms.

Ali chuckled, “That is true. But I think I’ve done pretty good about letting you do your thing.”

Ashlyn rolled her eyes. “Yeah, sure. Yesterday was the first time you let me crutch myself to the bathroom without you watching to make sure I didn’t fall.”

Ali smiled with a slight blush to her cheeks. “So maybe I’m a little overprotective. I don’t think that’s a bad thing.” Ali said as she finally found the right prescription bottle and handed Ashlyn a pill to take before walking to the bathroom to get her a glass of water. 

“It’s not a bad thing-” Ashlyn paused to take the pill as Ali handed her water. “But it will still just be nice to visit with my best friend this afternoon.”

“I agree.” Ali said as she pecked Ashlyn’s lips quickly. The doorbell rang and Ali knew that it would Whitney. “Speak of the devil. Let me go let her in. I’ll send her in here and give y’all some time alone.” Ali said before walking out of the room. 

A minute later a wide smile spread across Ashlyn’s lips as she saw Whitney walk in the room. But what made her laugh with joy was the bag that she was holding in her hands. It was a Firehouse Subs paper bag and if Ashlyn had to guess then she knew there would be a Philly cheesesteak sandwich in there. 

“Please tell me that’s for me.” Ashlyn said as she eyed the bag hungrily.

Whitney laughed and tossed the bag at her. Before Whit could even climb into the bed beside her friend, Ashlyn already had the sub unwrapped and was taking a bite. 

Ashlyn hummed in contentment.

“Is it that good?”

Ashlyn nodded while she chewed. “Amazing. Ali only feeds me cardboard.” She admitted after she swallowed.

Whitney rolled her eyes. “She’s just looking after you. You really scared her. Scared all of us, actually.”

Ashlyn sighed and set her sandwich down on the paper. “Yeah, I know. But now everyone seems fine and is moving on, and I’m the one left scared, grasping for pieces.”

“You? Scared?” Whitney faked surprised. “Nah, I don’t believe it.” She teased.

Ashlyn smiled. “I’ve played the tough part for a lot of things, Whit. But I’m afraid the big man upstairs might have given me a little more than I can handle this time.”

“Bullshit. My bestfriend doesn’t give up.”

Ashlyn shook her head. “I’m not giving up. I just don’t have anything to work for anymore.”

“Nothing to work for? Really? Cause I know one REALLY important thing for you to work for.”

“And what’s that?”

“Ali.” Whitney stated as though it was the most obvious answer in the world.

Ashlyn smiled at the name but it quickly faded. “Yeah, and now I’m useless. I have no career. I can’t play the one sport our whole relationship even started with. What’s the point in making her stay around to watch me rot to nothing?”

“You’re not making her stay, Ashlyn. She loves you.”

“Doesn’t change how I have no career or life skills past soccer.”

Whitney rolled her eyes and smiled at her best friend. “Well, I might be able to help you with that.”

Ashlyn raised an eyebrow at her. “What do you mean?”

Whitney leaned over the side of the bed to her bag and pulled out a brochure. “Have you ever heard of amputee soccer?” she asked as she passed the paper over to Ashlyn.

Ashlyn’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Yea, but what does tha--- Oooooh, I get it. I’m an amputee now. I forget that that word applies to me now.”

“Well, not to burst your bubble, but yea it does and I called to get some information about it. Interestingly enough, the 2020 Olympics will be the first time the Paralympics will be featuring women’s soccer. They’ve had men’s Paralympic soccer for years but never women’s. There is even a team near D.C. that you could look into. Then, the USSF pics an elite team from the player pool and sends them to the Paralympics.”  
Ashlyn nodded and flipped open the brochure that Whitney had handed her. “So I would have to play on crutches?” Ashlyn asked as she looked at the pictures of the players in action.

“Yeah, but I think this could be really good for you, Ash. And it gives you a whole new set of goals to work for. Gaining an athlete of your level could really bring some much needed attention the Paralympics.” 

“I don’t know, Whit. I’m not sure if that’s my thing.”

Whitney sighed, “Come on. Just think about it with me here. Just imagine how much good you could do for amputee soccer if the world sees a 2016 Olympic gold medalist turn into a 2020 Paralympic gold medalist.”

“I'll think about it….That’s all I’m promising. I still have a long way to go in the healing process before I can think about playing any kind of soccer again.” Ashlyn said, but gave her friend an encouraging smile and a nudge to the shoulder before picking up her sandwich again.


	3. Chapter 3

~~ A few months later ~~

“Ashlyn, baby, where are you going?” Ali called from her position on the couch as she noticed Ashlyn slipping her keys and wallet into her backpack.

“I’m going to practice. I told you this morning that the girls from the D.C. amputee soccer team had called me. They asked if I wanted to meet up and practice with them.”

“Then let me drive you.” Ali said as she hopped up from the couch and met Ashlyn in the foyer. 

“No, stay here and relax. It’s your day off.”

“Yes, but I want to watch you play.” Ali retorted. 

“And I just want to be able to drive my jeep without you worrying about me. I’ve driven it since I lost my leg. I drove just like I did before my accident. What’s the big deal?” Ashlyn snapped.

Ali’s eyes flashed with a pang of hurt and she crossed her arms. “I don’t fucking care about you driving, Ashlyn! I know you can drive just as well as you did before, that’s not why I want to go with you! If you had thought for maybe just a second, then you would realized that this is going to be your first time playing soccer again since your accident. Maybe, just maybe, I would want to be there for that!” Ali yelled and Ashlyn immediately felt guilty.

Ashlyn hung her head and mumbled something that Ali couldn’t hear.

“What was that?” Ali asked, slightly annoyed.

“I said, I hadn’t thought about that.” Ashlyn repeated as she shrugged the backpack off her shoulders and let it fall to the floor.

Ali’s eyebrows scrunched in confusion. “Why did you put your backpack down?”

Ashlyn shrugged. “Maybe it’s not the best time for me to start playing again.” She said softly and started to walk towards the living room.

Ali reached out and grabbed her arm to stop her. “Wait! Is this about what I said? Cause it’s not that I don’t want you to go play, Ashlyn. I just thought it would be something you would want me around for, but I don’t have to go if you don’t want me there. You should still go.”

Ashlyn eyes dropped to the ground. “It’s not that. If I went then I would want you to go. It just doesn’t make sense for me to go. I’ll probably just get frustrated.”

“Frustrated?”

“Yeah, I mean, I’m used to being one of the best. I’m barely used to wearing this damn prosthetic. How am I supposed to play without it and on crutches instead? This was a bad idea. I shouldn’t have agreed to go.”

“No. I’m not letting you do this.” Ali said as she reached for Ashlyn’s backpack and put it on her on back. She grabbed Ashlyn’s wrist and started pulling her towards the door. 

“What are you doing?” Ashlyn asked, slightly nervous as Ali pulled her along and she struggled to not lose her balance and fall. 

“I’m taking you to practice, and as soon as you get the hang of it then I know you’ll do great! You’re Ashlyn Harris, you can do whatever you set your mind to.” Ali explained dragging Ashlyn out of the front door.

Ashlyn smiled but she let her concentration diverge from trying to walk and she got tripped up and had to catch herself on Ali’s arm. Ali quickly stopped and turned to Ashlyn with a concerned look.“Oh my god, are you ok!?” Ali asked.

Ashlyn chuckled, “Yeah, I’m fine, babe. No reason to drag me. Doubt worry, I’m following.”

Ali smiled. “Good.” 

They got to Ashlyn’s jeep and Ali let Ashlyn drive. They got to the field and Ashlyn took a deep breath before getting out of the jeep and going around to Ali’s side of the vehicle to open the door. Ali could sense that Ashlyn was a little nervous and grabbed her hand as they walked onto the field and towards the group of other women huddled together, all of them missing a limb.

Ashlyn and Ali walked up slowly and one of the girls in the group happened to notice them and gave them a smile before waving them over. “Hi, I’m Samantha.” The red headed girl greeted. “You must be Ashlyn. It is really great to meet you.” She said as she held out a hand for Ashlyn to shake.

“Nice to meet you too. Thanks for calling with the invite.” Ashlyn then pointed to Ali. “This is my fiancé, Ali Kr-”

“Krieger.” Sam finished with a smile. “It’s great to meet you too. Big fan.” She said to the brunet and then she turned back to Ashlyn, “And don’t mention it.” She said, waving Ashlyn off. “How could we pass up the chance to play with THE Ashlyn Harris?”

Ashlyn blushed and Ali just smiled on at the conversation in front of her. She knew this was going to be good for Ashlyn. 

“Anyway,” the girl continued. “I hope you’re not too out of shape. Don’t think we’ll let you off easy just because it’s your first time.”

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t want you too.” Ashlyn said with a confident smirk. This was the Ashlyn that Ali was used to seeing. “You said that you had an extra pair of crutches I could borrow?” Ashlyn said, wanting to get straight to the playing.

Sam nodded. “Yeah, Brooke brought an extra pair. You can get ready and I’ll go grab them.” She said before hurrying off.

Ashlyn looked at Ali with excitement in her eyes. “I think this will go well.”

Ali smiled, “Glad to see that confidence back in place.”

Ashlyn winked at her before sitting on the ground and beginning to take her prosthetic off. 

After practice, Ali watched Ashlyn laugh with a few of the other women as they walked towards the defender. Ali was happy to see the smile on Ashlyn’s face. It was nice to see her back in her element for the first time since her accident. She had played pretty well for her first time on crutches and Ali was sure that she would get the hang of it. 

“Hey.” Ashlyn said as the group finally reached the bench that Ali was sitting on and Ashlyn sat down right beside her and placed a kiss to her check before setting the crutches on the ground and grabbing her fake leg to put on. 

“Hey, did you have fun?”

“I did.” She then turned to the other girls. “Guys, this is my fiancé Ali Krieger.”

“Believe me, I know who she is.” Gabriella, one of the younger girls on the team that Ashlyn guessed was around the age 17, said. “I can’t   
believe I got to play with Ashlyn Harris and meet Ali Krieger in the same day. I’m a huge fan of the Spirit!” she admitted, but as soon as she said it, another girl on the team elbowed her in the ribs.

“What was that about?” Ashlyn asked.

Danielle, the girl who elbowed Gabriella, sighed before explaining. “We kind of have a thing around here where we don’t mention people’s past often. Especially when it includes things that we can’t really do any more. We don’t want to be insensitive. 

Ashlyn shrugged, “I don’t mind. The Spirit was a huge part of my life for several years. I’m not scarred by those memories. I cherish them.”

“That’s a really cool attitude to have about it.” Sam commented.

Ali snorted. “Trust me, it wasn’t always like that.”

Ashlyn shook her head and smiled, “She’s right. It took a lot of thinking and counseling for me to come to that, but the point is that I’m at good place now.”

“Good. So we have a pre-season game two Saturday’s from now. Do think that you might be able to keep practicing with us and maybe pick up a few minutes in the game? We would love to have you as a part of our team.”

Ashlyn looked over at Ali and Ali gave her an encouraging smile before she turned back to the other women and agreed to play with them.

~~ Two weeks later ~~

Ashlyn was competitive, it didn’t matter if it was a pre-season game or not. She fell more times than the other players who were more used to their crutches, but each time she got up with determination, helping her team win the game. It wasn’t until the game was over, when she was looking for Ali on the sideline, that she noticed Ali wasn’t alone. With her was the entire Spirit team and Mark, all of them cheering and congratulating her as she crutched over to them.

Ashlyn walked to Ali first, wrapping her in a tight hug. “I am so proud of you.” Ali whispered into her ear.

“Thank you.” Ashlyn whispered back and kissed her temple before pulling back and going over to her former teammates.

“I can’t believe all of you guys came!” Ashlyn said with a huge smile spread across her face as she came over. 

Mark shouted above the rest and said, “We wouldn’t miss it!”

Jonesy practically tackled Ashlyn to the ground and Toni and Huster had to help keep her from falling.

“Gosh, easy guys.” Ashlyn said with a chuckle as she moved over to the lawn chair that Ali had been sitting in and sat down, throwing her crutches to the ground. “Do y’all want to go out for drinks?” she asked as she began the work to put her leg back on, not looking up at them.

The girls all looked to Ali, not knowing if Ashlyn actually had the energy to go out or if she was just trying to hold up their post-game tradition. Ali smiled and nodded to them, indicating that it was ok.

“Sounds great!” Crystal answered for the group after Ali’s confirmation.

“Awesome! We’ll meet you guys at the bar in like thirty minutes, ok?” Ashlyn asked.

“Sure.” Lori confirmed and they all shouted their goodbyes before heading towards their cars.

Mark stayed behind, standing by Ali as they watched Ashlyn attach her prosthetic. “She seems to be doing well.” He whispered to Ali.

Ali nodded. “Yeah, she is.”

“Well, I better go tell her bye. I’ll see you at practice tomorrow.”

“You’re not coming to get a drink with us?” Ali asked with confusion.

Mark shook his head and chuckled, “No, the girls will have far more fun without me.” He then walked over to Ashlyn and patted her on the back to get her attention. Ali observed them talking, they both laughed and then they grew serious. It ended with Ashlyn standing up and wrapping Mark into a long hug. Ali smiled at the moment and watched Mark walk away before going up to Ashlyn. 

“You ready to go?” she asked.

Ashlyn nodded and picked up her crutches before lacing her hand with Ali’s and walking towards the car. 

“Are you sure that you’re up going out?” 

“Yeah, I need to be with everyone. To feel like things are normal.”

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean that Mark just made sure I’m coming to y’all’s first game of the season because they want to do a special presentation where they retire the number 1 in my honor. All it did was remind me how I will never be a part of that team again. And…” Ashlyn got choked up. “And it sucks, Alex. It really sucks. So tonight I just want to go to the bar with all the girls and have a few drinks.”

Ali nodded and squeezed Ashlyn’s hand a little tighter. “Whatever you need, baby.”

~~ Two years later ~~

Ali was in tears as she stood in the stands with her parents, Ashlyn’s family, and their one year old daughter, as she watched her wife receive the first ever women’s Paralympic soccer gold medal.

It didn’t take long after the medal presentation for Ashlyn to find her family in the crowd. She immediately crutched her way over to them and had Ali and their daughter, Kayla, in her arms in a matter of seconds. “I’m so unbelievably proud of you.” Ali shouted over the crowd.

“Thank you, baby.” Ashlyn said into her ear and kissed her lips and then gave their daughter a huge kiss on the cheek.

Ashlyn then noticed her brother standing right beside them, waiting to give his congratulations. Ashlyn remembered the conversation she had with her brother in the hospital 2 and a half years ago after they had amputated her leg, the conversation where she was ready to give up on herself but he wouldn't let her.

What she didn’t know was that Chris was thinking about the same thing. “You lost a leg, so what? You still win an Olympic gold medal.” Chris joked.

Ashlyn shook her head and wrapped her brother in a tight hug. “So I came back stronger.” She whispered in his ear before pulling away to celebrate with the rest of her family. 

What neither of them knew was that the Paralympics had just had their largest number of viewers in U.S. history, all because Ashlyn Harris decided to not give up. She came back stronger.


	4. Follow-Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a random little follow up because I felt like it. Enjoy!

“Mama?” Kayla said, trying to get her mother’s attention. 

Ashlyn looked up from the newspaper she had in her hand. Ali had gone grocery shopping and left Ashlyn at home with their four year old daughter and their 1 1/2 year old son, Ben. The kids were playing on the floor and watching tv while Ashlyn relaxed in her recliner, she had had an early morning practice and was enjoying that Ali didn’t make her go shopping with her. “What’s up, buttercup?” 

Kayla stared at her mother who had her feet up on the recliner. The sun was shining through the window and a glare was coming off the metal of Ashlyn’s prosthetic leg. “Why don’t you have two legs?” the little girl finally asked. She had been wondering for a while and when a friend at school asked her why her mother was missing a leg, Kayla realized she had never asked.

Ashlyn looked at her daughter in shock. She never thought about the day her daughter would ask about her leg. She was stumped for an answer. Does she tell her daughter the truth about being in a bad surfing accident and risk her daughter getting scared or does she say something else?

Luckily she didn’t have to make a decision because Ali walked in the door calling for Ashlyn to help her bring the groceries inside.

“We’ll talk about this later, sweetheart.” Ashlyn said as she stood from her chair and placed a kiss to her daughter’s head before going to help her wife. 

Ashlyn was helping Ali put away the groceries when Ali noticed something was wrong with her wife. “What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?” Ali asked as she wrapped her arms around her wife’s waist.

Ashlyn sighed and steadied herself against the kitchen counter and hung her head. “Kayla asked me how I lost my leg.” She whispered out.

Ali’s mouth gaped open. “Wh- What?” she asked surprised. “What did you tell her?” 

“I didn’t get the chance to answer her. You came home, saving me.”

Ali sighed and leaned into Ashlyn, pressing her lips to her wife’s shoulder. “What do you want to tell her?”

Ashlyn shrugged. “I don’t know. How do we tell her the truth without her becoming afraid of the ocean or something?” 

“Well then what do you want to do?” Ali asked. She has learned over the past 6 years since Ashlyn’s accident to let her work through accepting obstacles that come with her injury.

Ashlyn chuckled, “I was going to let you handle it.” She answered truthfully.

Ali giggled and then leaned up to kiss her wife’s cheek. “If she brings it up again then I’ll talk to her. Now, I’m going to go check on my babies. You should cook us dinner.”

Ashlyn rolled her eyes and slapped her wife’s butt as Ali walked out of the kitchen.

~~ ~~

Ali was tucking Kayla into bed while Ashlyn handled Ben. She got the little girl settled into bed and then sat down on the edge of it to talk to her daughter for a minute. “So, mama told me that you asked her about her leg today.”

Kayla nodded, she hadn’t brought it back because she thought she had hurt her mama when she asked the first time.

“What’s your question, sweetie?” Ali encouraged her daughter to express herself.

“Danny asked me at school the other day when mama came to pick me why she didn’t have a leg. But I don’t know why mama doesn’t have a leg. She’s just never had one!” the little girl said exasperated. 

Ali giggled. “Well, she used to have one, but you’re right, she hasn’t had one for as a long as you’ve been alive.”

“What happened to it?” the four year old asked innocently.

“Well your mama is the bravest person I know. She had this really bad accident when she was in the ocean, but she was so strong that she swam all the way back to the beach. They took her to the hospital and in order for her to get better they had to take her leg off.”

“But now she has a leg! She puts it on every morning when she wakes up!” 

Ali giggled. “You’re right. Mama puts on her very special leg every morning. That leg helps her do all of the super mama stuff she does.”

“So her special leg is like a super power?” Kayla asked confused.

Ali chuckled and smiled down at her daughter. “Kind of. You just tell Danny that your mama is a real life super hero. She fought very hard to be able to walk again with that special leg. And every day she faces challenges that she conquers because you have a very strong mama. Don’t ever forget how brave and strong your mama is, ok?” Ali told her with a sad smile as she remembered those first few days after Ashlyn's accident. Ali really did have an incredibly strong wife.

Kayla nodded. “Ok, mommy!”

“That’s my girl.” Ali said with a wink and leaned down to kiss her daughter’s cheek. “Goodnight, sweetheart. I love you.”

“I love you too, mommy! Tell mama I love her too.”

“I will, baby. Now go to sleep.” Ali insisted as she turned the light off in the little girl’s room and left.

~~ ~~ ~~

Ashlyn walked into her daughter’s classroom and smiled as she saw Kayla run to her. Ashlyn held her arms out and caught the girl in a hug. “Hey, baby girl. Did you have a good day?” she asked.

“I did!” Kayla nodded and then squirmed to get out of her mother’s arms. “Come here, mama! I want my friends to meet you.”

Ashlyn scrunched her eyes in confusion. She already knew her daughter’s friends. She caught the teacher’s eye as her little girl dragged her over to some of the other students. The teacher just gave Ashlyn a knowing smile. 

The first student that Kayla brought Ashlyn to was a little boy that the blonde recognized as Danny. “Danny, this is my mama. She’s super strong! She plays soccer all over the world and has a special leg that helps her walk and do cool stuff.”

Danny looks at Ashlyn’s prosthetic leg in awe. “What can it do?” he asked in eager anticipation as he pointed to her leg.

Ashlyn was thoroughly confused but she went along with it. “Well, it helps me run super-fast. And it’s a lot stronger than my real leg. Real legs can break and get injured but my special leg is super strong because it’s made of metal.” 

“That’s so cool!” the little boy said with a big smile. Ashlyn had caught on to the fact that her daughter’s sudden pride over her mother’s artificial leg must be her wife’s doing. She smiled as she pulled her daughter into her side for a hug. Ali always does know how to handle things.


	5. Follow-up

“Damn piece of junk!” Ashlyn cursed as the lawn mower stopped on her for the third time that afternoon, she switched it off and groaned at the sky. She had promised her wife that she would get the grass cut in their backyard while Ali was gone to practice but the lawn mower seemed to be conspiring against the blonde. The belt had been continuously coming off the mower and she knew that she needed to take it to the shop to get it fixed but she just had to get through this cut before she could. She easily flipped the lawn mower over onto its side so she could fix the belt. She slipped the belt back into place and the blonde barely got her hand out of the way as the blades began spinning and she couldn’t react fast enough before her right leg was being torn into by the lawnmower and it brought Ashlyn to the ground as her one fake leg couldn’t hold her up. 

It took Ashlyn all of two seconds to scoot around to the handle of the lawn mower and quickly cut it off. She could have sworn she turned the mower off before she flipped it over and assumed that the switch must have gotten turned when she flipped it. She looked down to her leg and saw that the cut went straight to the bone. She had to quickly look away before she made herself pass out. She knew that she couldn’t walk and she looked up at her two story house and gaged the chances that her daughter might hear her if she yelled and decided it was worth a shot. 

“KAYLA! KAYLA!” Ashlyn yelled. She had left her 5 year old daughter inside playing with her dollhouse in her bedroom and she could see her daughter's bedroom window from where she laid on the grass. 

Ashlyn called out to her for about a minute but it seemed to be useless. Ashlyn grunted as she used all of her arm strength to begin pulling herself towards the back deck. She knew that she needed to get to her cellphone where she could call Ali and most likely an ambulance. 

She reached the stairs leading up to the deck and she willed herself to get up them. Ashlyn felt like she was going to pass out as she made it to the top of the stairs and crawled on her arms toward the table where she had laid her phone down. She grabbed it quickly and immediately dialed Ali’s number, putting the phone on speaker so she could take her tanktop off and wrap it around the cut on her leg. 

Ali’s phone rang several times and went to voicemail so Ashlyn tried again.

~~ 

“Krieger! Your phone keeps ringing!!!” Parsons yelled from the sideline during the scrimmage. The only players he allowed to bring their phones on the field where the few players who happened to be mothers. He was a parent himself so he understood that emergencies could come up, but he only let them look at their phone if it was family related. Mark immediately noticed that Ashlyn’s name had popped up on Ali’s screen and knew it must be important. 

Ali jogged over to the bench and yelled a thanks to her coach before grabbing her phone. 

“Hello? Ash?” Ali answered with concern laced in her voice. She knew her wife wouldn’t be calling her unless it was an emergency. 

“Alex. Thank god.” Ashlyn let out with a ragged breath. 

“What’s wrong, baby?” 

“Long story short: the lawn mower attacked me.” She tried to infuse some humor but quickly became serious again. “I can’t walk, Alex. The cut is pretty deep on my right leg. I can't put any weight on it. I need help.” 

“Ok. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Do you think you need an ambulance?” 

Ashlyn sighed as she looked down at her leg and how much blood she had lost. She figured it would be best if an ambulance came to pick her up so Ali wouldn’t have to worry about getting her to the hospital and the kids. “Yeah. An ambulance would be best.” 

“I’ll call one as soon as we hang up. Are you feeling ok?” 

“A little lite headed.” Ashlyn answered truthfully.

“Alright. Just stay awake, baby. I’ll be there in a few minutes. OK?”

“OK.” Ashlyn said and hung up the phone. 

Ali quickly grabbed her bag from under the bench and shoved the few things that she had laying out into her bag. She put the bag on her shoulder and ran up to Mark. “I got to go. Ashlyn had an accident and I have to get her to the hospital and she’s at home alone with the kids.” Ali informed him in a slightly panicky voice.

Parsons nodded and gave Ali a small side hug. “Of course. Go home. Let me know if you need help with anything. I could always come get the kids after practice and take them to the park or something with my kids.”

“Thank you!” the defender said with much appreciation in her voice as she turned to run to the parking lot, dialing 911 as she ran.

~~ 

Ashlyn laid down as she began to get dizzy. She was hoping that either Ali or the ambulance would get here soon. She was on the verge of going to sleep when she heard Ben start to cry through the baby monitor that she had sitting on the table, signaling that he was awake from his nap. Ashlyn wanted to cry herself as she listened to her two year old cry for her and she knew that she couldn’t get to him. She felt helpless. 

Ben had been crying for about two minutes when Kayla came down the stairs looking for her mama. She saw Ashlyn on the deck through the glass doors and walked over. “Mama, Ben is crying!” the five year old informed her as she opened the door, but she stopped dead in her tracks as she took in the sight of her mother laying on the deck in only her shorts and a sports bra, her shirt wrapped around her leg, and a trail of blood leading from the grass up onto the deck. “Mama?” Kayla whispered out in a small scared voice.

“I’m ok, baby. Mommy is on her way home to take care of everything.” Ashlyn tried to soothe her. “I need you to be a big girl and do what I tell you. Ok?”

The little girl nodded her head and waited for instruction. 

“I need you to go open the front door and just leave it open. The ambulance is coming and they need to be able to get in the house. Once you open the door I want you to go upstairs to your brother’s room and stay with him until mommy gets here. Can you do that?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Her daughter said with a serious face, knowing that she needed to listen to her mother carefully. 

“Thank you, baby. I love you.” Ashlyn told her, trying to bring comfort to the girl.

“I love you too, mama.” Kayla said before running off to perform the tasks Ashlyn had given her. 

Ashlyn sat out on the deck for another five minutes, listening to Kayla try to soothe her baby brother, before she heard a man’s voice call out into the house. 

“I’m on the back deck!” Ashlyn yelled as loud as her weak body would allow her. 

The two paramedics came rushing out back and they heard Ben crying over the baby monitor. “That’s my son. My daughter is with him and my wife should be here any minute.” Ashlyn explained.

The two men just nodded and got to work on Ashlyn’s leg. They removed the shirt that she had wrapped around her leg so they could assess the wound and it immediately began pouring blood and the men went into quick action. 

Ashlyn was in too much pain to even notice her wife had gotten there until she heard Ali gasp. She looked up to see a look of horror on Ali’s face as she not only looked at Ashlyn’s leg but looked at the blood that covered a good amount of their deck and grass. It looked like a murder scene.

“Oh my god.” Ali whispered out as she covered her mouth. “Ashlyn?” she let out in a small scared voice.

Ashlyn made eye contact with her wife and tried to give her a small smile. “Alex, you need to go check on the kids. Ben has been crying for a while now.” the blonde said in a calm voice so she didn’t freak her wife out anymore. 

Ali nodded but couldn’t seem to move as she just stared at the paramedics working on her wife. One of the paramedics finally looked at her and could tell the woman was distraught. “Ma’am, we should have her on the stretcher and ready to take her to the hospital by the time you get your kids ready.” He informed her, hoping this would prompt her into action.

“Of course. Thank you.” Ali said in a daze before she turned and hurried upstairs to her kids. As soon as she saw both of her children looking rather upset Ali jumped into action. Seeing her wife laid out like that on their back deck with blood surrounding her had completely caught the defender off guard. She had never seen anything like that. She silently wondered if it had been that bad or worse when Ashlyn suffered the cut that made her lose her left leg almost seven years ago. 

“Mommy!” Kayla called out as soon as she saw Ali walk into the room. She left her crying brother’s side and went crashing into her mother’s legs as tears came down her face. 

“Hey. There is my brave girl. Thank you for looking after your brother.” Ali said as she gave her a kiss on the top of the head before moving closer to Ben’s crib with Kayla still clinging to her legs. She quickly picked up her two year old boy and held him close as she bounced him in her arms. “Ok, Kayla, I need you to go to your room and grab your backpack and put some coloring books and crayons in it. We are going to have to go to the hospital with mama.”

“Ok!” The girl said before quickly running off to her room. 

Ali took a deep breath to calm herself before she walked over to the changing table and made quick work of Ben’s dirty diaper before making sure she had everything in his diaper bag before heading down stairs with Ben on her hip. She looked out back to see that the paramedics had Ashlyn on the stretcher and were getting her stabilized before they took her to the ambulance. Ali hurried into the kitchen and grabbed a couple of Capri suns and some cheese crackers for the kids before going over to Ashlyn and the paramedics. 

“How is she?” Ali asked as she noticed that her wife had closed her eyes and looked to be sleeping.

“She’s stable. We gave her some pain medicine and we’re ready to take her to the hospital now. We have stopped the bleeding for the most part. From the looks of it she will most definitely need surgery, but that’s for the doctor’s to assess once we get her there.”

Ali nodded as she processed the information. “Which hospital are you taking her too?” 

“George Washington University Hospital. If you and your kids are ready to go then you are welcome to follow us.”

“We’re ready.” Ali said as she followed them out the door to their driveway and grabbed Kayla’s hand as she led her to her SUV.

~~

“Mrs. Harris?” the doctor asked as she came into the waiting room to find Ali. 

Ali looked up from where she was nervously playing with her hands to meet the doctor’s gaze. The doctor had a smile on her face and Ali let out the breath that she had basically been holding for the last two hours since they took Ashlyn back. She stood from her seat and made sure her dad was watching both of the kids before she walked towards the doctor. 

“How is she?” Ali asked with some emotion in her voice. 

“She’s doing great. She’ll have a scar on her calf but other than that I expect her to make a full recovery. She’s probably looking at about three months of physical therapy that will start in two weeks after she has her stiches removed.” 

Ali nodded and tried to gauge how to word what she wanted to say next. She didn’t want to insult the doctor’s intelligence but she didn’t want to see her wife lose the only leg she had left either. “Thank you for taking such good care of her. I…I don’t think I can comprehend what it would be like for her if her leg wasn’t back to normal. I just…” Ali really didn’t know how to say this. “I just want to ask that she is monitored very closely for infection.” 

“Of course. All of our patients are monitored appropriately.” The doctor answered with a courteous smile.

Ali shook her head. “No. I mean the last time my wife had surgery on her leg she ended up with an infection that almost cost her life and did end up taking her leg. The infection caused a fever that was just a couple of degrees away from causing brain damage and she had seizures. She went through hell and back because she wasn’t monitored properly before and I won’t let it happen again. Do you understand?” Ali said in a harsher tone then she intended but she could tell she got her point across by the look on the doctor’s face. 

“Of course, Mrs. Harris. I’ll make a note at the nurses’ desk for them to check the incision frequently because the patient is prone to infection.”

Ali sighed and put on a bright smile. “Perfect. Thank you. When can I go see my wife?” 

“She’s in room 238.” The doctors said with a smile before walking off. 

Ali felt more relaxed as she came back over to her dad and the kids. “The surgery went fine and they are going to monitor her very carefully for infection…because I requested it.”

Ken chuckled and shook his head. He knew his daughter would look after her wife no matter what it called for. “I’m glad to hear she’s going to be ok. Why don’t we let the kids go and tell her goodnight and then I’ll take them home.”

“Sounds good.” Ali said as she grabbed Ben from her dad’s lap and let Ken and Kayla follow him to Ashlyn’s room. Ali opened the door slowly and walked in. “Hey baby, how are you feeling?” 

“Much better now that I get to see all of my family’s pretty faces.” Ashlyn cheesed. 

“Wow. I’m flattered Ashlyn.” Ken said with a laugh as he walked through the door.

Ashlyn laughed with him. “Hey, I’m happy to see you too, Papa Kriegs.”

“I’m glad to see you’re doing ok. No more scaring my daughter like that. You should know better than to get in fights with lawnmowers.” He joked.

“I promise it will never happen again.” Ashlyn swore as she gave Kayla a hand so the little girl could climb into the bed beside her. 

“Speaking of that, do you want to explain to us what happened?” Ali asked.

Ashlyn shook her head and buried her face in her daughter’s hair as she kissed it repeatedly. “I turned the mower off while I flipped it over to fix the belt. Apparently it must have accidently hit the ground wrong and turned back on so when I got the belt fixed the blades went flying. I’m lucky I didn’t lose a couple of fingers.” 

“Well we will be investing in a lawn-care company after this and reduce your chances of accidents.” Ali said matter-of-factly. 

“I’m not even going to argue with you.” Ashlyn admitted, and Ken and Ali could both tell that Ashlyn had something heavy on her mind. 

“I think it’s time I get the kiddos some dinner and then off to bed.” Ken suggested as he moved to give his daughter a hug and shook Ashlyn’s hand that wasn’t holding onto Kayla. 

“Thank you for looking after them, daddy.” Ali said as she let Ashlyn kiss Ben goodnight before handing him off to his grandfather. 

Kayla gave both of her moms a big kiss before running out of the room followed by Ken.

Ali waited for the door to shut before she looked back to her wife. “What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?” she asked.

Ashlyn took a deep breath and let it out as she tried to calm her emotions. “Alex…” she choked out. “Alex, I couldn’t move. I was laying in our yard and I felt completely helpless. It’s a miracle I was able to make it to our back deck and get my phone. And then the kids…god, Alex, I had to listen to Ben cry over the monitor for 15 minutes knowing I couldn’t do anything. He was scared and he needed me and I couldn’t do anything. Never have I felt so helpless since I lost my left leg until today. I’ve always taken everything in stride and today I realized that one little injury can literally cripple me because I didn’t have a good leg to walk on. It was torture, Alex.” 

Ali could see the tears coming down her wife’s face and she quickly went and sat beside her and pulled her into a hug. “It’s ok, baby. It’s ok.”

Ashlyn shook her head. “No. It’s not. I can happen again. I could step in a hole and roll my ankle, I could slam my foot in the door a break a toe. And that kind of stuff wouldn’t normally sideline a normal person but I would completely take me out. What if I had really needed to get to Ben today? What would I have done? I don’t even know how you can trust me to take care of them.”

“Baby, I am very confident that if our son had been in dire need of you that you would have found a way to get to him. That’s the kind of love that I know you possess for him. And as for me trusting you? Ashlyn, you should know that there is no one in this world that I trust more than you. This was an accident. It doesn’t happen every day. Hell, we’ve had children for five years and this is the first time something like this has ever happened. I remember very well the time you carried Kayla all the way home from the park because she sprained her ankle. That wasn’t easy for you but you were determined to take care of your little girl and you didn’t let your leg stop you. I trust you with everything in me, Ashlyn Harris. That’s why I married you.” 

Ashlyn leaned her head back into the pillow and thought on her wife’s words for a minute. “I can’t drive now.” she mumbled out.

Ali just giggled. “Yep. Looks like you’re sidelined for a little bit from being behind the wheel.”

“That’s going to be really inconvenient for our schedules.”

“It will be but I have faith we can work it out.” 

Ashlyn’s eyes suddenly shot wide open. “Shit!” she yelled as a thought came to her. 

“What?!” Ali asked alarm that something was really bad. 

“My team has a tournament next weekend. I can’t play when I don’t have either of my legs to use!” 

Ali just laughed and leaned in to give her wife a kiss. “I think your team will understand, baby.”

Ashlyn huffed. “I guess.” She said as she moped in the hospital bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just something I did for fun. I got the idea because several years back I got to meet pro-surfer Bethany Hamilton. I met her right after she had a surfing accident where the fin on her board cut into the one arm she has left and she had just had surgery on it. So she basically didn't have an arm that she could use at the time. Its just a reality for her if she happens to get injured. Thought it would be interesting to touch on in this story. Hope you enjoyed it! :)


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